/*
 	Tool for Path Finding Algorithm Testing (ToPFAT) 
 	
    Copyright (C) 2009, Teemu Turunen and Arttu Viljakainen 
    Published under GNU General Public License V3 
    (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html)
    
    This file is part of Tool for Path Finding Algorithm Testing.

    Tool for Path Finding Algorithm Testing is free software: you can 
    redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General 
    Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, 
    either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

    Tool for Path Finding Algorithm Testing is distributed in the hope that it
    will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General 
    Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with Tool for Path Finding Algorithm Testing. If not, see         <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */

package algorithms;

import graph.Graph;

import java.awt.Point;

/**
 * Interface for path finding algorithms.
 * 
 * @author arttu viljakainen
 * @author teturun
 */
public interface PathFindingAlgorithm {
	
	/**
	 * Method for finding path from given start point to goal point
	 * using Map object. Found path (if any) depends on path finding algorithm
	 * class that overrides this method.
	 * 
	 * @param start the point where the search begins
	 * @param goal the goal point
	 * @param map Map object the path finding algorithm uses
	 * @return SearchResult object containing path and possibly other relevant information
	 * about the search and <code>null</code> if no path is found.
	 */
	public SearchResult findPath(Point start, Point goal, Graph graph);
	public String toString();
	
}
